Goodnight Happy
by chloemcg
Summary: One-shot. One night, Natsu wakes up to find that Happy is in the midst of a full-on night terror. Can Natsu calm the young feline from his nightmare and soothe his fears?


**Disclaimer: I do not own any character from Fairy Tail, the rights to it belong to Hiro Mashima and not me.**

 **I own absolutely nothing.**

 **Goodnight Happy**

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It was a dark night in the woodland boarders just outside of the city of Magnolia.

In this area stood a small lone cottage which was quite sturdy and very nicely-built, it had a cat head-shaped sign out front that read "Natsu & Happy", and there was even a small frost coating the grass on the ground. The air was chilly, the gentle breezes of wind were gentle and soft, the dark blue sky was dotted with twinkling stars.

The humble home was absolutely peaceful and shockingly quiet, in spite of the occupants living inside.

Everything was relatively peaceful...or so it seemed.

In the small cottage of Natsu Dragneel and his little flying feline partner, Happy, the peace that they were experiencing during their slumbers was about to be very much disturbed.

Natsu snored loudly as he slept, snoozing the night away as he subconsciously turned to lay on his side. He slept soundly on one of the two hammocks which was shared by both himself and his best friend, Happy. Natsu nuzzled sweetly into his blankets as he felt totally contented and didn't want this moment to end. Both Fairy tail members were fast asleep, sleeping like logs as they each snoozed away on each of their hammocks; Happy slept on the top bunk whilst Natsu slept on the bottom.

Natsu snoozed heavily on the bottom hammock, the silence was so heavenly and so golden that anyone whom was lucky enough to be occupied with such a silence would have taken every opportunity to use it to get a good nights sleep. But he couldn't help but stir when his sharp dragon slayer ears started to pick up some rather muffled noises coming from the top hammock and that was enough to awaken the pink-haired dragon slayer as he sleepily dragged his onyx eyes open, only managing to get his eyelids to raise halfway due to tired disorientation.

He also couldn't help but let out a slurred moan born of both confusion and frustration that he'd been forced awake.

But it was by what that perplexed him greatly.

"N-Nngh...no...no, please..."

Small moans coming from the top bunk made Natsu jerk himself into a sitting up position, letting some of his blanket fall off his chest and drop to his lap, and he took a few moments to gather his bearings. He looked around and quickly realised that it was still in the middle of the night, the fact that the main room was almost pitch black made that fact abundantly clear, and the only source of light was the slivers of moonlight that shone through the windows and the white beams illuminated the whole room —messy floors that had been strewn with discarded clothes and items which had no right to be down there and everything— and it also filled the dragon slayer with even more confusion.

Where did those sounds come from...?

Natsu glanced up and noticed that the hammock overhead was rocking from side-to-side, creaking slightly from the movement, and he could hear some soft whimpering. Concern instantly took over and Natsu shook off his fatigue and slid himself straight out of his hammock so he could straighten his posture and stand in order to check on the small feline. His vision swayed from side-to-side from fatigue as he sluggishly sat up, trying his best not to clumsily topple forwards and collapse from tiredness. He knew that he had to do this because his little buddy needed him to bear through this and take care of her -he just couldn't let his partner down when she needed him.

Natsu froze.

He saw Happy tossing and turning in his sleep, whimpering as he had tears in his eyes and he was shaking like a blue fluffy maraca. He had his blankets wrapped tightly around him and his azure blue fur was all dishevelled and messy —the poor six-year-old exceed looked so frightened. He hissed through clenched fangs and clawed his hammock so much that he cut holes in the fabric.

All Natsu could do was stand there.

Of course, he had been experienced in dealing with nightmares but he hadn't had to deal with one so severe before...what could he do? He wasn't sure if trying to wake him up was a good idea and he knew that he had to deal with this problem as delicately as possible. He didn't want to stand back and watch his little friend suffer, though.

He wanted to try and wake him up but he wasn't exactly sure whether he should or not.

The fire wizard pondered on the predicament for a few moments before something happened that completely changed the dynamic of the situation, something that changed this from a simple nightmare into a serious night terror. He was completely startled when the young exceed had lashed out and started to swipe his claws in every direction fathomable, he stared at the frenzied blue exceed in a mix of shock and alarm.

Happy must have still been half asleep!

Happy struggled and continued to swipe his sharp claws in a flurry, he had his eyes wide open but there was absolutely no emotion in them -or any sign of full consciousness for that matter- and he had relentless tears cascading down his face as he let out these screeching noises that the young exceed never made before.

Natsu stared at Happy in a mix of fear and absolute disbelief. He didn't know what kind of awful dream could make his little buddy start acting in such a frightened yet desperately terrified manner but he knew that he had to try and do something to awaken him before he either hurt himself or tore him to shreds. As the pink-haired dragon slayer thought about his options, he could see that poor Happy was so scared and seeing him that way made his heart drop into his stomach.

So, mustering up a great deal of frantic courage, Natsu swiftly reached forwards and grabbed Happy and pulled him close against his warm chest and holding him there.

The pink-haired man somehow managed to evade getting slashed by the blue cat's claws and could only stare in bewilderment at the uncharacteristic display of fear shown by his best friend. Despite Happy trying to scratch at him, Natsu held on fast and tight in refusal to let go until he calmed down...he almost felt winded when Happy started to kick him but, thanks to his well-toned upper body, he knew that the least he could expect was a bruise or two.

Thankfully, after what felt like an hour, Happy's thrashing form had finally stilled as he had his face pressed up against Natsu's chest.

"Happy? Ya with me now, little buddy?" He couldn't help but ask, despite wincing whence feeling the sting of the six-year-old blue exceed's claws digging into his bare chest; but he already knew deep down what had automatically awoken the little blue cat and it had been something that he sometimes had to deal with. Nobody knew this because of the little kitten's sunny disposition but Happy was prone to suffer severe night terrors, he'd sometimes wake up in the middle of the night crying out...but they never got this extreme before.

Happy didn't answer the salmon-haired fire wizard. He just sobbed and sniffled as he tried to calm himself down from his hysterical crying. He couldn't help but be so frightened after experiencing something so scary and petrifying and he could feel his little heart race due to the after affects of such a dream. But he also couldn't help but feel just a tad guilty because of this happening more and more frequently and he was supposed to be tougher than this yet he was still scared of nightmares.

Natsu felt both cautious and a little reluctant when he finally peeled the exceed away from his chest and held him at arms length to examine him. He couldn't help but heave a gigantic sigh of relief whence he saw that Happy had apparently properly woken up and, while he did seem slightly unnerved, he could see that Happy's eyes had widened and the fog of disorientation cleared up when he realised what was.

"N-Natsu...?" He asked, sniffling but feeling very confused as to what had just happened.

Natsu smiled in relief, lowering his tone to whisper to him comfortingly. "That's right, Happy, I'm right here."

Happy raised a forearm and used it to rub at his cheeks, wiping away the tear stains that soaked his fur down to the skin. He couldn't help but feel terrible for some reason and he almost wanted to fly away and hide...but he knew that he just couldn't while he felt so bad and he also knew that Natsu would just track him down anyway using his heightened sense of smell. He wrapped shaky paws around his best friend/father figure and snuggled.

Natsu decided to ask, despite the fact that the answer to his own question was blatantly obvious.

"Nightmares again?"

The young exceed could only nod as he felt his ears droop down in shame, his puffy eyes swelling with even more tears.

"I-I'm sorry...I don't know why this k-keeps happening...but I can't get rid of these d-d-dreams!"

Happy shuddered when memories of the nightmare he had started to come flooding right back to him. His eyes widened and his pupils dilated as he started to hyperventilate out of panic and tail stood on end, his cat lips quivered as he tried to keep himself from sobbing and crying again for the second time tonight. He couldn't control them, though, and he started to whimper when the memories struck his mind.

"Th-They were going to take m-m-me away, Natsu, they were trying to take me from you! D-Don't let them send me away!"

Natsu's onyx eyes softened as compassion for the frightened kitten overflowed through his heart, and his heart squeezed with guilt. He felt terrible that Happy honestly thought that he was going to be taken away somehow in some way; Natsu hugged the little blue cat tightly and started to scratch his head to try and comfort him.

"Hey, hey, hey...it's okay."

Happy sobbed, more tears cascading down his face.

"Shhh...I'm not going to let anyone take you away from me. You are my best friend and nothings going to change that. Besides, if anyone even tried I'd burn them into a pile of ashes. Got it?"

Happy nodded softly. "A-Aye..."

Natsu craned his head and gently pressed his nose up against Happy's face, rubbing the tip of it against his fluffy cheeks and getting some contented purrs from him and hearing those sounds made Natsu's heart become warm like the eternal fire burning inside of him. The exceed in his arms snuggled closer against him and rested his ear against the dragon slayer's chest, hearing his heart gently palpate against it, and he couldn't help but feel his little muscles ease.

Happy started to feel much better after his horrific nightmare and whilst he wished his nightmares would cease tormenting him, he felt comforted that the one person whom raised him from a small hatchling kitten would be there to love and protect him. He couldn't help but let out more contented purrs as he just melted in the dragon slayer's embrace, he inhaled the comforting scent of smoke and the sort of scent one would smell if they were a far distance away from a distant bonfire.

The exceed would not feel safer then he did in Natsu's arms.

A long few moments of silence passed by.

As he held Happy, Natsu couldn't help but wonder how he could better help Happy sleep at night. He started to think back on how he could easily remember what he would used to do to pacify Happy during those rare times he was fussy as a newly-hatched kit, and remembering those times made him feel his heart grow as warm as the strong flames that burned in his stomach. The fire wizard just smiled a soft smile that revealed his glinting fangs and he asked him quietly.

"How would you like to sleep right next to me to help ya get back to sleep?"

Happy nodded, looking up at his guardian as a saddened smile started making itself known on his little cat lips.

"Aye sir."

Natsu proceeded to slink back into his bottom hammock and he lay down on his back, feeling the fabric dip beneath his weight as he let himself ease in order to allow Happy to lay on his chest. Happy sleepily rubbed his tired eyes with his paws and let the comforting warmth of the dragon slayer's body seep through his azure fur while he curled himself up into the smallest ball he possibly could. He was so tired that he could hardly keep his eyes open and he was far too exhausted to try and muster the energy to stay awake for much longer.

The fiery dragon slayer softly raised his arm and drifted a hand lazily over Happy's head, placing his palm down, and he stared to rub the blue cat's head in featherlight strokes; the smooth blue fur tickled his palm and wrist and Happy seemed to surrender to sleep quickly but that wasn't much of a surprise since Happy was still a kitten who needed plenty of sleep and his frightening episode must have taken a lot out of him.

Regardless, Happy exhaled in contentment as Natsu's strokes and soft breathing lulled him into the soothing darkness of slumber.

And it didn't take long before the fire Dragon slayer felt his own eyelids start to droop.

He reached down to grab at the edges of the blanket that merely covered his feet. He furled his fingertips around the soft cotton material and then pulled it back over him while he very slowly lay back down again on the hammock to relax. He was also very careful not to disturb Happy, although his movements caused the suspended-in-air bed to shake a bit and wobble from side-to-side. He felt his heart clench when Happy started to purr softly, his small blue furry body curling even tighter as he lain on his chest comfortably and it didn't take too long until Happy was fast asleep and snoring softly as he curled into an adorable little blue ball of fur.

Natsu let loose a heavy sigh as he lay on the hammock comfortably, one arm folded behind his head while he gazed down at the little exceed that snoozed away whilst asleep on his bare chest.

A small smile curled at the corners of Natsu's lips as sunk deeply into the hammock and he closed his own eyes.

He murmured softly and sleepily as the last of his consciousness finally ebbed away.

"Goodnight, Happy..."

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 **A/N: This is a short one-shot about Natsu and Happy and I thought that I should make it as cute as possible.**

 **I hope you guys like it!**

 **Please review.**

 **-Chloemcg**


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